Spain’s Automatic Holster

A company in Spain has been making a holster for law enforcement. It is called the Automatic Holster. It is designed for LE carry where a round is not chambered. With a fluid motion you push the pistol down, chambering a round while simultaneously removing the hood and retention. Then you draw the firearm out, completing the chambering sequence and the firearm is loaded hot and ready.

Here is a comparative video between a traditional draw and chamber vs their Automatic holster. I feel as though it is exaggerated a bit. They fire the round as soon as the gun is level. But they seem the exaggerate standard draw by firing at almost full extension. Also you can see their rushed shot induces a stove pipe malfunction.

They also make an even faster model called Thunder. It is designed so that the gun is carried empty chamber, since it is lot loaded the trigger does not need to be covered. Rather than a down and upward draw movement, you just push the gun forward to load and draw. As you can see in the picture above, the acessory rail is not incumbered so any light or laser would be compatible with this holster.

Co-Founder of KRISSTALK forums, an owner’s support group and all things KRISS Vector related. Nick found his passion through competitive shooting while living in NY. He participates in USPSA and 3Gun. He loves all things that shoots and flashlights. Really really bright flashlights.

Any questions please email him at nicholas.c@staff.thefirearmblog.com

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JumpIf NotZero

Lol at carrying an unchambered gun on body. Because guns are scary?

Ko I

In the picture, some of them seem to also have covers for the trigger guard, but without seeing how the gun sits in it before being racked, it’s hard to say how covered it is. If it’s not covered the entire time, I see another issue of the officer sticking their finger in there, shoving down and half ripping their finger off… The trigger finger they’ve done all their practice and qualification with… I wonder if departments that foolishly issue these will have to practice shooting the gun with their middle finger in case they mangle their index finger.

Gidge

Exactly. It’s a very innovative solution to a problem that should have never existed in the first place.If you can’t safely carry a gun holstered with a round in the chamber you’ve got the run gun.

Sub 1 second draws are more than achievable using the old Israeli style techniques but that requires training and range time. Better to spend time and money on training and practice ammo than an expensive proprietary holster to magically solve their problems.

Guest

In some countries (i.e. Israel) you cannot carry a firearm with a round in the chamber. I believe even military personnel are bound by these rules

Peter Magnus

I belive that is BS, it was like that in the old days when they had raided the scarpheaps of europe for guns. Now they have guns that dont fire unless the trigger is pulled, and carry them as the rest of the world.

dan citizen

I have seen an old sten run away after being dropped, sevsral people were injured. I have also seen some third world service pistols that would fire if shaken.

There are a lot of places where the types of guns and lack of training make an empty chamber a reasonable thing.

dan citizen

Many areas have rules like this, and they do serve a purpose I guess.

You just train accordingly.

Cleophus

Yeah, they have a purpose, to get you killed! What a damn dumb fuc* idea. Hell, if you’re going to handicap yourself, why not just carry a hammer?

dan citizen

When you have a ton of untrained people carrying guns that fire when dropped, or sometimes even shaken, it can be the lesser evil.

sianmink

Hang on, the automatic holster leaves the trigger exposed? auuughhhhhhh I see a lot of perforated calves and feet in Spain’s LE future.

Nicholas Chen

How? It’s an empty chamber.

CommonSense23

If you use it and have to reholster it for some reason.

sianmink

Imagine you’re a typical Spanish cop, half-trained on firearms handling and you didn’t really pay much attention. You go to draw your weapon, and your finger is absentmindedly on the trigger as you shove it down to rack the slide and free it from the holster. a ND isn’t only possible, it’s encouraged.

Matt

Little easier with a belt holster and a Makarov, as the Spetsnaz holster was. You’d better have long arms and time to charge it before a fight. And what’d you do after if you dont shoot and need to clear it?

A solution in search of a problem. Just carry it charged like normal people do.

USMC03Vet

Pretty sure any half decent shooters in Spain just died from embarrassment due to this video.

RIP.

Camilo Emiliano Rosas Echeverr

Don’t worry: there are none

Will

Nothing new about this concept. Back in the late ’60s, early 70s, there was a military holster for the 1911pistols that did the same thing. It was an absolute PITA to use. It was a standard leather 1911 hip holster that was longer than normal.
When the pistol was pushed down the slide was blocked allowing the barrel and frame to move downward.
New materials, same old idea.

Anonymoose

Soviet Spetsnaz had them too for their Makarovs.

West

She has two 38’s and a pistol too.

sauerquint

I remember that song. Now I feel compelled to scrounge Youtube for it.

Tahoe

I remember seeing this video about a year ago, and the holster was generally dismissed out of hand – and then the discussion quickly turned to the woman in the video. I agree with Matt, this is a solution in search of a problem.

br

Chambering a round while pointing the gun at your leg is a terrible idea. Hope it doesn’t slamfire.

ghost930

Come on Spain, even the Israeli’s are carrying with a loaded chamber now. It’s the 21st century for crying out loud. How many organic safeties do you need on a gun before you realize it is safe to carry “live”?

petru sova

This is finally the answer to the unsafe Glock pistol and Glock copy cat pistols as the Glock does not have a manual or grip safety. By using this holster when the gun is withdrawn from the holster when the user wishes to remove it for end of the day storage or inspection or cleaning the gun has an empty chamber and is not going to accidentally go off when handling it or attempting to remove the slide for cleaning. The Glocks take down method is pure engineering stupidity at its worst as it requires the user to pull the trigger with the slide mostly forward which as resulted in untold amounts of accidental discharges and injuries.
Ordinary handling of Glock type pistols have also resulted in numerous discharges as a slight snag of the trigger immediately sets the gun off because of its lack of manual or grip safety and its short stroke single action type of pull.
This holster should be made mandatory for all police departments that issue Glock pistols or close copies of this pistol.

Ethan

I’m going to assume that was extreme sarcasm.

CommonSense23

Unfortunately I don’t think it was

Ethan

That hurts my brain..

sianmink

It’s a firearm and should be treated as such.
I’ve got no problem with the trigger pull to take down a glock. You drop the magazine and check the chamber before you do this. It’s part of the procedure, and is easy to do Every Single Time.
Every glock ND has been through carelessness or negligence.
Otherwise just keep your finger off the trigger.

petru sova

Your assuming human beings never make mistakes. They do. That’s why we have air bags in cars, automatic pulsating braking systems and cut out switches for adults who may back up over their own children when moving the lawn on a riding lawnmower. Guns are no different and history has proved the Glock a disaster as regards to its engineering safety which is to say it has none as compared to other pistols.
Now lets take a look at the Beretta. It requires you to lock back the slide to disassemble it which means if you forget there is a round in the chamber it comes flying out of the chamber when you pull the slide back to disassemble the gun. NOW EVEN A MORON CAN SEE THE DIFFERNCE IN SAFETY WHEN TAKING DOWN A GLOCK V/S TAKING DOWN A BERETTA OR SIMILIAR TAKE DOWN SYSTEM.
And I must mention the Beretta has a manual safety as well which means handling the gun is a million times more safe than handling a Glock when both guns have a round in the chamber. Come on this is not rocket science anyone can see the difference in the safety features and the design of the two pistols.
THE NEW YORK POLICE DEPARTMENT HAD SO MANY ACCIDENTAL DISCHARGES WITH GLOCKS THEY DEMANDED AND GO THE ‘NEW YORK GLOCK MODIFIED TRIGGER’ which made the trigger heavier to pull but due to its short stroke single action pull this did not work out as well as they had hoped. Many police departments have given up on the Glock and gone over to pistols with manual safeties or heavy traditional long double action pulls which are very different than the Glock trigger mechanism. AGAIN HISTORY HAS PROVEN THIS AS DOCUMENTED NUMEROUS TIMES.

sianmink

The continuing popularity of the Glock and the M&P, being dominant in the US Police market, seems to disagree with you.

NDs with a glock are 100% a training issue. NYPD would rather modify every pistol with a $12 part than spend an extra couple hours drilling every cop to KEEP THEIR FINGER OFF THE TRIGGER.

The only safety you need is the one between your ears.

Wolfsbane

Wouldn’t it be safer and easier to just issue them a pointy stick?

Bill

It’s getting late and Ive been arguing Con Law, so I’m just gonna walk away from this one.

But now I have a brain cramp, because I often carry a 1911, so thats either the safest gun made or the worst, next to the GLOCK apparently.

Jeremy Star

Yeah, historically millions carry Glocks and what is the percentage that have NDs? Next to nothing. Do you work for Beretta, or do you just enjoy the Kool-aid?

Ethan

So we’ve gone from goofy retention Holsters (in the name of safety) to open trigger push-free holsters (in the name of safety).

What could possibly go wrong?

Vhyrus

I Think the most dangerous part of the “thunder” holster is not the uncovered trigger but the fact that there is ZERO retention. Anything that pushes down on that gun will cause a loaded gun to come flying out of the holster. And what happens when you need to reholster? Do you have to stand there fiddling with the gun trying to get the live round out of the chamber before you put it back in the holster?

Andrew Hobby

We call ziss one the “Ahhh-F*ck, I just shot myself in the leg” model.

echelon

You win the Internetz today my friend.

sam

Yep, Tex Grebner event waiting to happen.

Vitsaus

What happened to Spain? They used to run half the planet… now this. Did 40 years of (highly functional) military dictatorship make them terrified of guns?

noguncontrol

nah, it was the after- Francisco Franco govts that make them sissies, literally. they even have “homomarriage” now

Vitsaus

Most of Europe is like that as far as I can tell. I think only the UK hangs on to “old world” values, at least socially. The economy is run by leftists there too.

Capt. Obvious

‘nuther solution looking for a problem.

45B20

Spain is run by communists no?
This is the kind of society Social Justice Warriors create

I get that they can’t carry one in the chamber and I am okay with that due to them having no choice. However has no one thought about the fact that this would be so easy to get off them? With a proper retention system the subject should not be able to successfully get your firearm out of your holster, with these models all I have to do is push down on it, easy to do in a struggle from all angles…

nanoc

This seems a lot like the EFA-G17 holsters.

jason

I still do not understand why people carry guns in condition 3. I understand WAY back when revolvers were cap and ball and even the first cartridge revolvers, you have the hammer on an empty chamber…for the base safety back then, but semi auto guns first came on scene…I do not remember any military training of way back that have troops or cops carrying in condition 3…ever,.

Ben Branam

Doesn’t help that she is demoing the holster. She has been trying to pimp this for a while. But it does seem like a great idea in a location that you have to carry one without a round in the chamber.

sam

Is it automatic, in the sense that the retainer thing moves… or rather is it extra manual in the sense that one must perform a more laborious action to unholster than with a regular retention holster? I would say the latter.

kirill

Russia has had this for years as the EFA-2k

Ken

looks like another version of the Phalanx Smart Holster that has been lurking around for years. They’ve been attempting to peddle those things to agencies since at least the late 80’s or early 90’s. I think the first time I saw one of them was at an IALEFI conference. I’ve yet to see an agency in the US to adopt one of these ridiculous things.

Mazryonh

The first thing I thought of when I saw the term “automatic holster” was the fictional kind that opened up and pushed the gun out by itself, like Robocop’s from the first movie of that franchise.

Jerry The Geek

I’m impressed by the videos, especially the one at the top where the guy in the red shirt sweeps his off-hand.

dan citizen

I’ve had to work in places where an empty chamber was required. You get fast at racking the slide, and you don’t let people get close enough to prevent you from doing so.